Pretty Unconventional
by doxthextimexwarp
Summary: A look into the progression of Clare and Eli as we peer into a small moment of their shared life. Their romance is so different. Who thought it would work out for the better? Future-centric ONE-SHOT.


_Here's another EClare for you all. I can't wait for them to be developed on the show. I hope this inspires a few of you to write about them as well. Please Review._

**Pretty Unconventional**

At 25, Clare still looked like her old self. She kept her hair short with its wispy tendrils that hit her cheek. Her laser eye surgery still kept her eyes at 20/20; which Clare still felt blessed to have. Especially since she received so many compliments from her man about how clear blue they were.

She had grown a few inches and had dropped some weight. She had always liked her curves, but late nights in the university library were more important than catching whatever the latest deep-fried mess was in the cafeteria with Alli. And skipping the greasy student union meals added up after a while, leaving her now with a thin figure. Don't get it twisted, Clare wasn't stick-thin. She still had her hips and all, but she definitely didn't have that Grecian figure anymore.

At 5'7" Clare enjoyed her new figure. She still dressed how she normally did at Degrassi when she was a student there, but she felt more confident. In her long-sleeve plaid shirt, dark wash skinny jeans and black flats, Clare felt good.

At the moment she was feverishly working on another novel in the Fortnight Series. Yes, after all this time, Clare was still a fan. And so when she was approached three years ago after graduating with a Bachelors in English Literature, Clare jumped at the chance to work for a project she loved. They hired her straight-away as a ghost writer; working on new plots, developing new characters, and forming new twists.

By day Clare spent time her father's law office reviewing cases and contracts. It wasn't glamorous for sure, but Clare enjoyed being able to still spend time with him after her parents divorce. And with Darcy being a no-show and her mother being slightly crazy, it was nice being with someone normal.

And he paid well. But that wasn't really important to Clare.

She lived just fine at the apartment above Goldsworthy Mortuary.

Yeah, that's just weird. Clare knew that when she had first told Alli of her living conditions and she had gotten a squeamish look from the girl and a squeal as she said, "You're going to live above dead people!"

Yeah, it wasn't conventional. But it felt like home to Clare the first moment she walked in the door and turned the corner to the bedroom where he lay with his legs crossed and his hands laced behind his head while looking up at the ceiling. They were supposed to go on a picnic and watch the stars, but with the rain that had prevented them.

Clare bounded into bed next to him and lay down. Moving an arm around Clare's shoulders, he brought her closer. As Clare's eyes turned from her man to the ceiling, Clare quietly gasped.

He had taken the time to paint a few of the constellations onto the black ceiling.

Apparently all those years of painting his nails black had come in handy for a time like this.

That wasn't conventional. Neither was the lip-piercing he had tried sophomore year in college. Nor was Clare's rebelling against waiting until marriage. But that was a whole separate story in itself.

Clare took a moment to pause from her work and look up. The clock struck seven and chimed. It was finally time to cook dinner and with that thought, she jotted down a few last-minute thoughts onto the end of the Fortnight chapter she was currently working on. Jumping up from her wooden chair, Clare headed into the dark-stained wood kitchen and began pulling out her cooking utensils.

Filling a pot with water and setting it to boil, Clare began sprinting around the kitchen grabbing vegetables from the fridge, pasta from the cupboard, and a can of her soon-to-be mother-in-law's already prepared Italian Pasta Sauce from the shelf above the sink.

She continued to flitter around the kitchen simultaneously working on various different tasks. With her mind wandering, it wasn't until she heard a mental timer go off that she looked behind her and saw the water bubbling. Stepping over to the stove, it was time to finally put the pasta into the boiling water. Clare watched as the pasta became encroached upon by the hot liquid.

Clare felt a two warm and strong hands capture her waist. Immediately the body pulled her close against their firm chest. Clare blushed. Even though it had been years, her body still wasn't used to that magnetic touch. She smiled as she turned around and greeted him with a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Took you long enough, Eli," she said as she looked deep into his piercing green eyes.

At 26, Eli still wore the dark exterior that Clare had first seen him. The only time he ever wore the slightest bit of color was when he first met her parents at the Italian restaurant two blocks down the street for dinner three years ago when it was time to "Meet the Parents." However, his dark look had now become more polished. In a black blazer and black dress pants, his suit was similar to that of any desk worker. But his black shirt and black skinny tie set him apart as being more…morbid.

But nobody really paid attention to that since he did own the mortuary after all.

He had inherited it from his Grandfather four years ago when he passed away from lung cancer. Clare could remember that night clearly as if it had happened just yesterday. She could remember watching him cry as she held him close on her dorm bed. Eli was the only person in his family who was even remotely interested in owning the mortuary. So it had made sense from the start that he would receive it.

With a degree in business, Eli enjoyed running the mortuary. He over-saw the different labors and the various productions that actually went into making a funeral happen. It was comforting to know that he could always provide for Clare. Because truthfully, a mortuary would never go out of business. And business was always steady. He realized how bleak that outlook was to the normal person.

It was unconventional to have such thoughts.

He would attempt to fix these cognitations by giving the newly deceased whatever last silent offering of comfort that Eli could give. Sometimes, though he would never admit it to Clare (who feared that Morty would run down dead any second), he would still drive his old hearse from high school just to give the dead some comforting peace.

Running a finger past Clare's swept bangs, he quietly replied to her, "Sorry, Beautiful." And with one more deep and passionate look into her eyes, he let Clare turn around as she continued checking the pasta on top of the stove as she put the sauce in a pan and let it warm.

Letting go, he made his way over to the desk as he looked over Clare's neat penmanship. He wasn't really noticing the words, just how beautiful they looked across the page. Clare looked up for a moment and looked at him, "Anything interesting happen today?"

Eli looked up from the page that was staring at intently, attempting to find some hidden message underneath her sharp loops and thin letters. Finding nothing, he replied, "Just pulled another practical joke again today."

Clare turned her body to face him. With a smirk across her face, she brought her arms to cross over her chest. "Oh, really?" she curiously spoke back. She shot him an accused look. "What happened in this one?"

Eli headed over to the black leather couch and sat down. Clare came over and joined him. With both their legs draped on the ottoman, Eli brought his arm around Clare's shoulders as she stared at him intently waiting to hear whatever Eli's latest escapade was.

"Well," he spoke slowly. "You know the neighbor boy who has been helping out recently?"

"Yeah," Clare replied softly. "Bobby, the teenager with the blond shaggy hair."

"He's getting a raise." Eli's gaze turned into a delightfully wicked one as he went on to explain. "You see, early this afternoon while you were still at the office, we decided to do this prank of sorts. I got Jeff, the other overseer, to put his hand in an ice bucket for a short minute. And then we placed him underneath white sheets on the wheeling table out in the middle of the hallway. I sent Bobby out to go grab something and then when he least expected it, BAM!" Eli inflected as his grin grew broader. Clare attempted to cover her growing smile with her left hand as Eli continued. "Jeff stuck his hand out and grabbed him. He screamed super loud and basically ran out of the building."

Clare's hand couldn't hide her laughter any longer. Watching his girl laugh, Eli let out a few more himself as he listened to the musical tones that her own laughter gave. Just hearing it made Eli's smile turn up more north.

When Clare's laughter finally subsided, with a light red face she asked, "He'll be back tomorrow, though, right? Because I would hate for him to not want to return to his first job and if his mother had anything to do with it-"

Silencing her with a single finger, Eli smiled. "He'll be back tomorrow. I personally went over and apologized. His mom had a good laugh."

Clare smiled back at him. They chuckled until Clare thought she smelled something burning and bounded into the kitchen. Eli was right behind her when Clare looked into the pot and saw a now browning pasta.

"It's burned," she said matter-of-factly.

Eli took this moment to wrap his arms around Clare's chest and began to kiss her neck slowly.

"Who knew it was so hot in here," he said while his signature smirk broke out across his pale face. Clare felt it against her neck. He then brought his face up to hers. Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, Clare giggled as she brought her hand to her forehead in a lame attempt to silence whatever thoughts she had about exploring Eli's body that night.

"Is that all you think about?" she asked suggestively.

"Even when I'm surrounded by dead people." He smiled as she turned off the stove. Turning back to face him, she smiled. He noticed her blue eyes once more capturing his heart.

In one fluid motion, Eli brought both of his hands up to Clare's cheeks and brought her lips crashing into his. Clare brought her hands up to Eli's neck in order to keep him close. Their breathing stopped as they just let the silent moment take hold of their lives.

It was moments like these that made Clare realize just how lucky she was. Regardless of how different they were, ranging from their bright and dark exteriors to Clare's intent on staying positive compared to Eli's enjoyment on pondering the greater aspects of life (mostly death). And regardless of how odd their relationship was perceived from the average human being ("You live above a mortuary?"), it felt right.

It was just right.

They pulled apart for a quick second to breath. Bringing his forehead to Clare's own, he closed his eyes. Clare had, meanwhile, closed her own blue eyes as she focused on controlling her own breathing.

"I love you, you know that. Right?" he asked her gently.

Clare opened her eyes and gazed into Eli's deep green.

She smiled.

"I do."

He smiled. Grabbing her hand, he let everything in the kitchen stay in its unusual spot as he led her into the bedroom.

"Eli?"

"Hm?"

"I love you, too."


End file.
